5D 252 

topy X THE STUDY OF 

BER AND FOREST PRODUCTS 

IN AMERICA 

A Report presented to the Forestry Committee 
of the University of Cambridge 

by 
E. R. BURDON, M.A. 



Cambridge : 

at the University Press 

1912 

Price Sixpence net 



REPORT 

on a visit to the United States and Canada for 
the purpose of studying the Research Work 
and Educational Methods of the Forestry 
Departments and Forestry Schools in those 
countries in connection with the study of 
Timber and other Forest Products 



y by 

E. R. BURDON, M.A. 



Cambridge : 

at the University Press 

1912 



-^-^f 

•e.^ 



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

^LanUon: FETTER LANE, E.G. 

C. F. CLAY, MaxacxER 




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^- CONTENTS 



PAGE 
5 



Object of Visit 

Route followed 5 

Forest Service Branch of Products 

General objects and eflfects 

Organisation of branch (j 

„ „ research work 

Method of procedure . . . . . . ... 

Forest Products Laboratory 8 

Selection of Madison, Wisconsin, and co-operation of Wisconsin 

University 8 

General description of building and grounds . . ... 9 

Saw-mill and drying sheds .10 

Departmental Organisation of Laboratory . . . .10 

Staff ............ 11 

Description of each department : 

Wood- working shop • . 11 

Timber-testing XI 

Timber Physics and Microscopy and Wood Collection . 12 

Wood preservation and Pathology 14 

Wood distillation 17 

Pulp and paper . . . . . .... 18 

Engineering ^9 

Chemistry 20 

Office of Wood Utilisation . 20 

Forestry Schools .21 

Work on Timber in Forestry Schools 22 

Acknowledgments _ .23 



INTEODUCTION 

The following Report of Mr Burdon's visit to North 
America is published at the request of the Forestry Committee, 
University of Cambridge. 



FORESTRY COMMITTEE 

The Vice- Chancellor 

Dr A. E. Shipley, F.R.S. 

Dr F. Darwin, F.R.S. 

Prof. T. MCK. Hughes, F.R.S. 

Prof. A. C. Seward, F.R.S. 

Prof. T. B. Wood 

Prof. R. H. BiFFEN 

Prof. W. J. Pope, F.R.S. 

Prof. R. C. Punnett 

C. E. Grant, M.A. 

E. R. BuRDON, M.A. 

A. Henry, M.A. 

R. I. Lynch, M.A. 

Sir George Fordham, Chairman of the Cambridgeshire 
County Council 

Mr A. M. Caccia, Director of Indian Forest Studies 



Object of the Visit 

The object of the journey, which was undertaken in accordance 
with a resolution of the Forestry Committee of the University 
of Cambridge, was to study the methods of research into the 
structure, properties and utilisation of timber employed in the 
United States and Canada, and the nature of the training given 
to Forestry students in this branch of the subject. 

Route 

On arrival at New York I at once proceeded to Washington, 
D.C. and obtained full information from the Head Office of the 
Forest Service Department as to the institutions it was advisable 
to visit. Acting on the advice received I visited the following : 

Chicago, 111. Office of Wood Utilisation. 

Madison, Wis. Forest Products Laboratory. 

Ann Arbor, Mich. University of Michigan Forestry School. 

Toronto University of Toronto „ „ 

Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University „ „ 

Newhaven, Conn. Yale Universitv 



Products Branch of the United States Forest Service 
General objects and effects 

The most important research work on timber in the United 
States is that which is being carried on by the Branch of Products 
of the Forest Service. 

The main object of this branch is to develop more economical 
methods of utilising forest products generally, so as to eliminate 
the enormous waste which occurs not only in logging, but also 
in conversion into lumber and in manufacture. 



In pursuance of this object the Products Branch endeavours 
to organise systematic scientific research and to disseminate 
information regarding the mechanical, physical and chemical 
properties of commercial woods and their products, the utilisa- 
tion of forest products, the natural and artificial seasoning of 
wood, wood preservation, wood distillation, the production of 
paper pulp, naval stores and other chemical products. It also 
compiles statistics of production, consumption, prices and market 
conditions, investigates commercial methods of manufacture, 
of grading, and utilisation, and the possibilities of substitu- 
tion of new species or other materials for woods which are 
becoming scarce, etc., etc. The range of the investigations of 
the Products Branch covers every industry which is in any way 
dependent on the forest for its raw material. The work is thus 
of the greatest economic value, and the results already obtained 
are doing more than almost any other agency to educate the 
timber trade at large to a proper appreciation of scientific 
forestry. 

Organisatio7i of the Branch of Products 

The work of the Products Branch was formerly carried on 
at various stations and laboratories in the United States, viz. 
Washington, D.C., St Louis, University of California, Yale and 
other centres. This work has now been concentrated at Madison, 
and the organisation of the Branch is as follows: 

(a) The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, 
(6) The Office of Wood Utilisation at Chicago, 
both co-ordinated under the direction of the Chief of the Branch 
who reports direct to Washington, D.C. A representative of 
the Branch in the Head Office of the Forest Service at Washing- 
ton enables the Chiefs of other departments there to keep in 
close touch with the projects proposed for investigation and 
with the general progress of the research work. 

The Chief of the Branch at present is also Director of the 
Products Laboratory at Madison. 

In addition to this the whole country is divided up into 
districts, and an officer of the Products Branch is stationed at a 



central point in each district, in order to enable the Branch to 
keep in close touch with the principal timber associations and 
wood-using industries of each district. 

The general organisation is shown in the following diagram. 

Head Forester 
I 



Branch of Products 

Office of Chief, 

Madison 

i 
I ^ 



Sylvics 



1 1 1 

Dendrology etc. etc. 



Wood Utilisation 

Office of Chief, 

Chicago 



Products Laboratory 

Office of Director, 

Madison 



District 2 
Denver 



District 5 
San Francisco 



etc. etc. 



Organisation of the Work of the Branch of Products 

This is divided between Chicago and Madison as follows: 
Problems requiring experimental research by laboratory 

methods are dealt with at the Laboratory at Madison. 

Problems capable of solution merely by co-operating with 

lumbermen or manufacturers are referred to the Chicago Office. 

This Office also serves as a public bureau for the collection and 

publication of information and statistics on the production, 

consumption, prices, etc., of all forest products. 



Method of Procedure 

Before commencement of any research project, a working 
plan as complete in detail as possible is insisted on. This 
working plan is submitted by the Head of the Department 
concerned to a Committee composed of all the heads of 
departments in the Products Branch. The need for the 
investigation, the present knowledge of the subject, the 
proposed method of procedure, with plans of any instruments 
required, the probable cost, etc., etc., are all laid before the 
Committee. The project after full discussion and criticism is 
revised and finally passed on by the Chief of the Branch for 



similar consideration by a Committee composed of the Heads of 
the Forest Service Departments at Washington, D.C. 

Although this occasions some delay in beginning the 
work, the method has been found to be most satisfactory, 
since many points which would never have occurred to the 
originator of the project, but are capable of simultaneous 
solution, are brought forward. By this means not only is 
duplication of work saved, but the various departments of the 
Forest Service are kept in close touch with what is going on. 
Progress reports of research work are also handed in at intervals 
and considered in a similar manner and a final report is also 
required before the project is considered completed. 

The Forest Products Laboratory, Madison 

Selection of Madison and co-operation of Wisconsin 
University 

The Laboratory at Madison was opened in 1910, and, as 
mentioned above, the research work of the Products Branch 
was thereupon concentrated at this point. 

The establishment of the laboratory at Madison was only 
rendered possible by the co-operation of the University of 
Wisconsin with the Forest Service. On the refusal of Congress 
to grant an appropriation to build a laboratory, various State 
Universities were invited to co-operate with the Forest Service 
in its establishment, and there was considerable rivalry between 
the Universities, especially those of Minnesota, Wisconsin and 
Michigan, for the institution. The liberality of the terms 
offered by the University of Wisconsin secured its establishment 
at Madison. The conditions were that in return for the provision 
by the University of the ground, and building, together with 
heat, light and motive power free of charge, the Forest Service 
should furnish the Staff, equipment and running expenses of 
the laboratory, and that members of the Staff should deliver 
courses of lectures to the undergraduates on the commercial 
uses of timber and other forest products. 

This liberal offer of co-operation, coupled with the facts that 
Wisconsin is an important lumber- and pulp-producing State 



and possesses an efficient State Forest Service free from 
political control, resulted in the selection of Madison for the 
location of the new Products Laboratory. The decision was 
also influenced by the high status of Wisconsin University, 
whose President, Mr Van Hise, is one of the most prominent 
advocates of Conservation of Natural Resources. In no other 
State has the University laid itself out so thoroughly to serve 
the needs of the people by organising research and disseminating 
knowledge useful in their daily lives. The authoritative status 
of the University in all agricultural questions, and the high 
degree of confidence reposed in it by the public, make it 
especially suitable as a centre for the work of the Forest 
Products Branch. 

A similar confidence in the work of the Forest Products 
Laboratory is beginning to manifest itself, as was evidenced by 
the interest shown by one or two wood-using industries, which 

1 visited, in certain experiments on artificial seasoning and wood 
preservation now in progress. Further evidence of this lies in 
the co-operation of the railroads who furnish free carriage for 
the supplies of the Laboratory, and of various lumber concerns 
and wood-using industries who provide material for experimental 
work free of charge. 

General Description of Building and Grounds 

The Products Laboratory is a substantial building of brick, 
stone and concrete, simple in design and eminently practical, 
situated on the outskirts of the town but within a few minutes' 
walk of University Hill on which most of the University 
Buildings stand. 

The main building, which measures 182 ft. x 90 ft., is fire- 
proof, contains two stories, and the roof space is used as an attic 
for storage. The cost to the University was about |55,000. 

Adjoining the building is an ample storage-yard of about 

2 acres in extent. The property faces on to one of the main 
roads into Madison, and the track of the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St Paul Railway, which crosses the road obliquely at this 
point, forms the boundary line on one side of the yard. A 



10 

switch line from the railroad has been laid into the yard so 
that the Laboratory possesses every facility for delivery and 
dispatch of material, and the handling of specimens by carters 
and railway men is avoided. Trucks can be run by a branch 
switch line to the saw-mill, or direct to the back of the main 
building, or unloaded at any point in the yard by means of a 
derrick. 

Saw-mill and Drying Sheds 

In the yard at the back of the main building, but separated 
from it by the switch line, stands a row of sheds, one end of 
which contains the saw-mill, while the other end is apportioned 
for seasoning experiments. 

The saw-mill is equipped with one large circular saw with 
travelling log carriage and one small circular saw with table for 
trimming ends, etc. 

The drying sheds are arranged so that seasoning may be 
carried on either by natural air-drying but protected from 
weather, or in closed sheds where the temperature and moisture 
conditions can be separately controlled. 

Departmental Organisation of the Laboratory 

The Products Laboratory is organised into eight technical 
sections for experimental research, and one non-technical section 
which attends to general maintenance. 

The technical sections are as follows : 

(1) Timber-testing, 

(2) Timber Physics, 

(3) Wood Preservation, 

(4) Wood Distillation, 

(5) Pulp and Paper, 

(6) Engineering (with Drafting. Room), 

(7) Chemistry, 

(8) Pathology. 

The first five sections, which require heavy plant for their 
experimental work, occupy the whole of the ground floor, and 



11 

there is also a wood-working shop on this floor. The last three 
sections are placed on the upper floor, the remainder of which 
is apportioned to offices, private rooms, library, photographic 
dark room, etc. 

Staff 

The Staff of the Laboratory, which is entirely provided by 
the Forest Service, numbers about 55 men of whom some 33 
are technically trained men recruited from the professions of 
Forestry, Engineering and Chemistry. Of these the Engineers 
are in the majority, but all have some knowledge of Forestry. 
The remainder of the Staff are chiefly engaged as clerks, 
stenographers, carpenters, etc. 

Wood-iuorking Shop 
This is a carpenter's shop furnished with various machines 
for sawing, shaping and dressing wood to the required sizes for 
experimental work. The shop opens conveniently into the 
timber-testing laboratory on one side, into the wood-preservation 
laboratory on the other, and into the yard at the back. The 
equipment includes Circular and Band Saws suitable for different 
classes of work, a short log saw-mill and edger, machines for 
trimming, edging, planing and mortising, wood-turning lathe, 
work-bench, etc. 

(1) Timbers-testing Department 
Here investigations are made into the mechanical properties 
of wood both before and after manufacture, or preservative 
treatment, or seasoning. 

At present tests are being carried out on the different 
commercial woods of the United States with a view to deter- 
mining their relative mechanical properties, e.g. strength, 
toughness, hardness, etc. A point wherein these tests differ 
from those generally made by engineers is that the specimens 
are collected from the forest, and the history of each, the 
conditions of soil and environment, etc., under which each was 
grown, are known. The structure of each specimen is noted 
from microscopic sections made in another department, and as 



12 

sufficient data accumulate attempts will be made to correlate 
the structure with the mechanical and ph3^sical properties. It 
is hoped that this work may in time enable each species to be 
so graded according to structure and corresponding strength, 
that the factor of safety rendered necessary by the tables at 
present used by engineers, architects, etc., may be materially 
reduced. If b}^ any means it is found possible to do this in 
such a manner that, by examination of the structure, an 
engineer may at once know within moderate limits the strength 
of a log, the work will be of immense value. But even apart 
from this the work will be of service by enabling consumers to 
readily find substitutes for woods which are becoming scarce. 

Other tests are being made in this section to determine the 
effect which the treatment of wood under pressure in the 
process of preserving has on its mechanical properties. 

The effects of different methods of seasoning on the mecha- 
nical properties are also investigated. 

The equipment of this Laboratory consists of 

one 200,000 lbs. Riehle testing Machine ; 

one 100,000 lbs. Olsen 

three 30,000 lbs. Olsen „ 

one t)0,000 inch pound Riehle torsion testing Machine ; 

one impact testing Machine ; and various machines for 
doing shop-repairs, grinding tools, etc. 
Another apparatus, which is best described under this 
section though it is actually set up in the Timber Physics 
Laboratory, is one which has been specially designed for 
determining the effect of dead loads on beams, the deflections 
of each beam being automatically recorded upon a revolving 
drum. The object of this research is to ascertain the relations 
that exist between the strength of a material as demonstrated 
by ordinary testing machines working at uniform speed, and 
its strength when placed under a constant stress or dead load. 

(2) Timber Physics Department 

In this section studies are made of the physical properties 
of wood and their relation to structure. These include 



13 

determination of the specific gravity, specific heat, the effects 
of changes of temperature, pressure and moisture on the wood 
substance and general structure, etc. These researches have a 
special bearing on the artificial treatment of wood in the 
processes of seasoning, fire-proofing, preserving under pressure, 
etc., when it is important to know the effect of different 
pressures, the amount of heat required, the length of time 
different kinds of wood may be exposed to certain conditions 
and so forth. The results of this work therefore serve as a 
valuable check on the experiments of other departments. 

The main equipment of this Laboratory consists of a very 
complicated apparatus which was specially designed for studying 
the problems connected with the artificial seasoning of wood. 
This consists of a jacketed cylinder in which the wood to be 
examined is placed. The cylinder and the jacket are separately 
connected up to a vacuum-oven, a carbon-dioxide-generator, an 
air-compressor and to two boilers in such a way that the 
temperature, moisture, pressure and gaseous contents of the 
cylinder can all be separately controlled. With this apparatus 
it is possible to study the influence of variation of one factor 
while the others remain constant, and a wide range of conditions 
in seasoning can thus be controlled. 

The experimental Dry Kiln in the yard behind the building 
enables theories deduced in the course of these experiments to 
be put to the practical test on a small scale. 

The experiments in this Laboratory are being followed by 
many manufacturers with considerable interest. The head of 
a furniture factory in Chicago informed me that he was 
waiting for the publication of further results before deciding on 
the type of a new Drying Kiln he wished to instal. 

The Pioneer Pole and Shaft Co. at Cairo, Illinois, got the 
department to superintend the installation of a dry kiln at its 
factory. 

The Vehicle Makers' Association have requested the 
Laboratory to find out a quick process for seasoning hickory 
in order to minimise the damage done by boring insects 
during the lengthy process of seasoning which at present seems 
necessary. 



14 



Microscopy and Photomicrographs 

This department also possesses a complete equipment for 
preparing sections and photomicrographs of wood. The collec- 
tion of these, which I spent considerable time in examining, 
showed work of the highest quality. The Microtome generally 
used was made by Jung (Model Th. No. 51) in which the 
object is fixed and the knife moves on a carriage. The 
Bausch and Lomb Microtome in which the object moves 
against a fixed knife is rarely used. The apparatus for Photo- 
micrography is one made by Bausch and Lomb, and the 
photographs in the general collection are all taken to the same 
magnification, (x 50), which is sufficient to show tlie most 
important details of the cell- wall structure. The chief use of 
these sections is in the study of the minute physical structure 
in its relation to physical and mechanical properties, and the 
effect on the structure of artificial treatment in preserving or 
seasoning, etc. 

Specimens of pulp are also examined microscopically and 
photographed to assist in determining the value of the fibre 
in paper making. 

The collection when more complete will also be used for the 
construction of a key to the identification of American woods 
based on structure. 

Collection of Wood Specimens 

There is no Museum for exhibition purposes attached to the 
Products Laboratory, but a collection of North American woods 
is being made by this department. The specimens are in the 
form of half-logs 4 ft. long, with bark attached, cut so as to 
display the transverse, radial, tangential and obliquely tangential 
surfaces. 

(3) Wood Preservation and (8) Pathology Departments 

The wood of these two departments is so closely connected 
that it is simpler to describe them together. The Wood 
Preservation Laboratory contains a very complete equipment 



15 

for testing the various problems of wood preservation by treating 
the wood with materials which increase its durability. 

These problems may be divided broadly into two classes : 

(a) Those dealing with the preservatives themselves, 
their effect on the wood and their efficiency in resisting 
fungi, insects and fire. 

(b) Those concerned with the methods of forcing the 
preservative into the wood. 

(a) In the study of the first of these problems the pre- 
servatives are analysed and fractionally distilled in the chemical 
laboratory. The efficiency of each preservative and its different 
fractions is then tested by subjecting woods treated with them 
to the action of wood-destroying fungi or animals, and noting 
their relative powers of resistance. The effects of weather on 
the preservative in the treated specimens are also investigated 
and taken into account in judging efficiency. 

In this work the Products Laboratory co-operates with the 
Pathological Department of the Bureau of Plant Industry and 
also with the Bureau of Entomology. A qualified Mycologist 
from the former Bureau has an office in the Forest Products 
Laboratory, and devotes the whole of his attention to the 
collection and study of wood-destroying fungi. Pure cultures 
of these are made and kept in stock in large jars, and the 
resistant power of the preservatives is tested by plunging 
treated specimens of wood into these jars. 

The efficiency of each preservative or of its fractional 
distillates is also tested by making culture media of wood- 
destroying fungi to which the preservatives are added in differ- 
ent percentage strengths. The extent to which the fungus 
succeeds in growing in such media affords an indication of the 
efficiency of the preservative. 

Experiments of a similar kind on a larger scale are also 
being attempted in a fungus pit which has been specially 
constructed below the floor in one corner of the Wood Pre- 
servation Laboratory. This pit contains large chambers in 
which the temperature and humidity can be regulated, and, 
when the conditions favourable to the growth of each particular 



16 

fungus have been ascertained, a culture of this fungus is grown 
in one of the chambers. Specimens treated with different 
preservatives are then introduced and inspected at intervals to 
ascertain the resistant properties of the preservative. Up to 
the present however the fungus pit has not worked very 
successfully, owing to difficulties in regulating the conditions 
necessary for each particular species of fungus. 

(h) The equipment for studying the second class of 
problems, viz. the methods of impregnating the woods with the 
different preservatives, is very complete. 

There are four sizes of pressure cylinders : 

one of 8" diam. x 12"; maximum working pressure 300 lbs. 

per sq. in., 
one of 12" diam. x 24''; maximum working pressure 

300 lbs. per sq. in., 
one of 18" diam. x 4 ft. ; maximum working pressure 

600 lbs. per sq. in., 
one of 3^ ft. diam. x 12 ft.; maximum working pressure 
300 lbs. per sq. in. 
This last cylinder is equipped with a travelling carriage for 
loading and can be utilised for experiments on a semi-com- 
mercial scale. These cylinders are connected up with a system 
of measuring tanks, and air-, vacuum- and force-pumps, so that 
all the factors in the process of treatment may be separately 
and exactly controlled. An open tank is also provided in 
which the effect of soaking specimens in preservatives without 
pressure, as well as the degree of penetration obtainable by 
alternating applications of hot and cold preservative, can be 
investigated". For the farmer class and others whose operations 
are not on a large enough scale to warrant the installation of a 
pressure plant, the knowledge gained from these open tank 
experiments will be of service. Another piece of apparatus is 
specially designed for observing the course which the preser- 
vative takes through the wood elements when injected under 
pressure. 

Other problems, such as the loss of preservatives by 
evaporation at different temperatures, the relative inflam- 



17 

inability of woods, etc., are being investigated with the help of 
ingenious pieces of apparatus designed for each problem. 
With this equipment the Laboratory is enabled to put any 
theories which have been evolved through researches on a 
small scale to a practical test on a semi-commercial scale. 
In these larger experiments various commercial concerns gladly 
co-operate with the Laboratory, for the work is already proving 
of immense benefit to railroads, shipping and mining companies, 
municipal bodies (for street paving), telegraph and telephone 
<;ompanies, farmers, etc. At the present time railroad ties 
which have been treated in various ways in this Laboratory are 
in use on a reserved length of the track of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St Paul Railway. 

Piles which have been treated to test the possibility of 
preserving them against marine boring animals have been 
sunk in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of 
San Francisco. 

In many other parts of the United States there are test 
tracks, pole-lines, fence-lines, mining props and greenhouse 
timbers set out under actual service. The location of all these 
test timbers is kept on a map at the Products Laboratory, and 
they are inspected annually by members of the Staff who keep 
careful records of the condition of every piece. 

(4) Wood Distillation Department 

In this Laboratory studies are made of the products 
obtainable from different woods and the most economical 
methods of extraction. The equipment consists of one steam 
distillation and extraction retort, one oil jacketed destructive 
distillation retort, and stills for refining. The Department also 
conducts turpentine distilling operations on a semi-commercial 
scale in co-operation with a turpentine factory in Georgia 
where a fractionating column still has been set up for this 
purpose. 

The work of this department is of high economic importance, 
for its main object is to find a profitable use for the enormous 
waste of material which occurs, not only in the forest in the 



18 

shape of tops, branches and stumps, but also in the saw-mills 
and factories, in the shape of slabs, ends, shavings and sawdust. 
The disposal of surplus sawdust over and above that used as 
fuel is a question which confronts mill-owners in every country 
who generally dispose of it in a refuse burner. Processes for 
converting it into ethyl alcohol (grain alcohol) or other 
substances have been attempted from time to time in different 
countries, but hitherto without enough success to warrant the 
general adoption by mill-owners. This question is being closely 
investigated b}^ this Department, and designs for an experi- 
mental plant to produce ethyl alcohol from sawdust are now 
being drawn up. 

Another line of investigation has been the commercial 
methods of collecting and refining turpentine, and the improved 
methods suggested are gradually being adopted by the trade. 
In this work the Department co-operates with the paint- 
and varnish-makers to see how far the uses of turpentine and 
pine-oil can be extended. The question of tinding substitutes 
for the rapidly disappearing Long-leaf Pine as a source for the 
production of turpentine is also engaging attention. 



(5) Pulp and Paper Department 

The work here is mainly directed at present to the discovery 
of woods which can be substituted for Spruce as a source 
of pulp in view of the rapid disappearance of the Spruce 
forests. This involves studies of the methods by which ground 
wood pulp can be obtained from species other than Spruce ; 
of the potentialities of different woods in the manufacture 
of chemical pulp ; of the qualities of paper which can be made 
from various grades of sulphite, soda and ground wood pulp ; 
and of the possibilities of utilising various forms of forest and 
mill waste for the manufacture of pulp. 

A miniature pulp and paper mill has been installed 
consisting of two 30 lb. digesters, one for soda, the other for 
sulphite pulp, an acid making system, the necessary grinders, 
beaters and screens, and a Fourdrinier paper machine capable 



19 

of making a roll of paper 15 ins. wide. In addition a branch 
Laboratory, for which Congress gave a special appropriation 
of $30,000, has been set up at Wausau, for the separate 
study of making ground wood pulp from woods other than 
Spruce. This Laboratory, which I did not visit, is equipped 
with a commercial grinding plant which is specially designed 
to allow of the speed of the grinder being varied through wide 
limits. 

The work of both laboratories is carried on in closest 
co-operation with the paper manufacturers of Wisconsin and 
with the National Pulp and Paper Association. Meetings are 
held at frequent intervals, and samples of pulp and paper made 
in the Laboratory are submitted for examination, and the 
methods of preparation explained and discussed. If required 
the Laboratory is ready to prepare pulp by any method in 
sufficient quantity for the manufacturer to test it on a com- 
mercial scale. 



(6) Engineering Department 

The work of this section, apart from the care of the 
machinery in the yard and building, consists in the designing of 
plant and apparatus. The discovery of improved methods of 
working wood, or new applications for a given wood or wood 
product, is at once followed by designing apparatus which will 
enable the discovery to be put to commercial use. The 
diversity of apparatus which is designed in the drafting room 
may be judged by the following items: 

An Experimental Dry Kiln. 

A Hack for turpentining trees which will give better results 
and do less damage than the one in general use. 

A Machine for grinding woods of different texture to Spruce. 

Fixed and portable plants for wood preservation. 



20 

(7) Chemistry Department 

The work of this section is of course carried on in close 
collaboration with every other section. 

The main problems engaging its attention at present are the 
analysis and grading of commercial creosotes to determine their 
value as preservatives, and the analysis and grading of turpen- 
tines and rosins. 

Office of Wood Utilisation, Chicago 

The main object here, as in the Products Laboratory, is to 
promote more economic utilisation of wood by elimination of 
waste in both forest and mill, but, as mentioned above, this 
Office only attempts the solution of problems which do not 
require the application of Laboratory methods and can be solved 
by direct co-operation with lumbermen and manufacturers. 

To achieve this a thorough knowledge of the timber business 
generally is essential, and detailed studies are being made of 
the wood-using industries of each State. These studies include 
statistics of production and (consumption of lumber, the kinds 
of wood used, the source whence obtained, the product manu- 
factured from each kind, and a variety of information as to 
market conditions, prices, etc. The work is carried on in co- 
operation with manufacturers, who are invited to supply the 
necessary information, and in most cases the States also lend the 
assistance of their Boards of Forestry, of Agriculture, of Labour, 
of Statistics, etc. In the Reports published, the information is 
carefully summarized so as to prevent disclosure of any details 
which might be detrimental to a manufacturer's interests. 

The natural hesitation about supplying data which manu- 
facturers at first evinced is rapidly diminishing in view of the 
general utility of the information thus rendered available, and 
the Reports prove of great assistance not only to manufacturers, 
lumbermen and owners of wood-lots, but also to each State in 
the consideration of its forest policy. 

As a result of the knowledge acquired by these studies, 
covering as they do every important home wood-using industry, 
the Office is enabled to co-operate still more closely with 



21 

manufacturers by giving valuable suggestions for the utilisation 
of material which would otherwise be regarded as waste. The 
waste of the larger industry is frequently capable of being made 
the raw material of the smaller factory, and an instance of this 
I saw in Palatka, Florida, where a small but flourishing Bucket 
and Keg Factory was practically living on the waste of a large 
saw-mill. Previously the bucket factory bought its own logs, 
while waste from the saw-mill went into the refuse burner. In 
another instance, by influencing co-operation between a saw- mill 
operatiug largely in Swamp Cypress and a manufacturer of 
tobacco boxes, the waste of the saw-mill was found suitable as 
the raw material of the box-maker. 

The office is also ready to help manufacturers in the discovery 
of substitutes for species of trees which are becoming scarce. 
Jiiniperus virginiana, for example, of which cedar pencils are 
made, is a wood for which a substitute is urgently wanted. 
Owing to its growing scarcity, the Office of Wood Utilisation 
has supplied samples of likely substitutes from the national 
forests to four large pencil manufacturers who are trying the 
possibilities of the woods and are submitting pencils made from 
them to the Office for inspection. 

In a similar way the Office is investigating woods suitable 
for the manufacture of weaving shuttles in place of Persimmon 
wood, supplies of which are limited. The National Hickory 
Association has requested the Office to undertake a study of 
the utilisation of Hickory with a view to improving the 
methods of manufacture. These illustrations show the range 
of work in this Office and the high degree of confidence reposed 
in the Forest Service by both lumbermen and manufacturers. 

Forestry Schools 

As mentioned at the beginning of this Report the Forestry 
Schools visited were those of Yale, Harvard, Michigan and 
Toronto Universities, which are recognised as being of the 
highest standard in North America. All of these are housed in 
temporary buildings which have been adapted for the purpose, 
and I was therefore unable to gain any ideas as to the most 



22 

suitable type of building for a Forestry School. None of them 
possesses a museum, nor is there even adequate accommodation 
for the collections of material necessary for class work. 

Work on Timber in Forestry Schools 

The most pressing needs of the United States and Canada 
in connection with Forestry at present lie in the better 
management of the woods and forests, and it is therefore natural 
to find that the work in their newly established Forestry 
Schools is almost entirely directed towards giving students a 
thorough training in the sylvicultural side of Forestry. 

The study of Timber Physics, under which term I include 
all such studies as are undertaken at the Forest Products 
Laboratory, occupies quite a secondary position in the curricula 
of Forestry Schools, and except for microscopical studies of 
timber structure, no other research work is carried on. 

Each of the four Forestry Schools visited, viz. Yale, Harvard, 
Michigan and Toronto, is however well equipped with microtomes 
and apparatus for studying the microscopical structure of timber, 
and a good deal of valuable research work in this branch of the 
subject is being carried out, especially at Yale and Harvard. 

It is realised that a thorough knowledge of timber structure 
is necessary for students to enable them not only to identify 
timbers but also to correlate the properties and uses of different 
woods with the structure peculiar to each. A full course of 
lectures with laboratory work is accordingly provided in each 
Forestry School for this side of the subject. The remainder of 
the ground is covered by short courses of lectures only, without 
any laboratory work in connection with them. 

I was informed however by President Van Hise of Wisconsin 
University that this want in Forestry education is about to be 
filled by the establishment there of a Forestry School to be run 
on special lines. In this school, attention will be focussed on 
the Forest Products rather than on the Sylvicultural side of 
Forestry, and the teaching will be based on the research work 
of the Products Laboratory Staff, who will co-operate with the 
University in this development. 



^ 



75 hours 



A detailed statement of the courses on Timber Physics and 
wood technology given at the four Forestry Schools visited 
will be instructive for comparison with our procedure at 
Cambridge. 



Toronto. 

One course on Timber Physics and Wood Technology. 
Lectures and Laboratory work 
Michigan. 

One course on Timber Physics and Wood Technology. 
Lectures and Laboratory work 
Harvabd. 

One course on Wood Structure. 

Lectures and Laboratory work about 

One course on Forest Products and Timber Physics. 
Lectures only 



Yale. 

I One course on Special Morphology of Woody Plants. 
A preliminary study of selected types 
One course on the Chemistry of Forest Products. 
Lectures only 

One course on the Classification and Structure of 
Woods. 

Lectures and Laboratory work 

/ One course on the Mechanical Properties of Wood. 
Lectures only 

One course on Wood preservation. 
Lectures only 



60 hours 


72 hours 


48 „ 


120 hours 


66 hours 


36 „ 


72 „ 


10 „ 


10 „ 


194 hours 



A cknowledgments 

Before closing this report I wish to record my indebtedness 
to Dr H. S. Graves, the Head Forester, to Mr A. F. Potter, and 
to the many other members of the Forest Service whom I was 
privileged to meet at Washington, Chicago and Madison for the 
ready assistance which was rendered me during my tour. Every 



24 

possible effort was made to facilitate the objects I had iu view, 
aod the fullest information on every point was freely given. 
All the data contained in this Report were supplied by members 
of the Forest Service, who, in addition to verbal information, 
placed both private memoranda and published articles con- 
cerning the Products Branch at my disposal. To Mr McGarvey 
Cline, Director of the Products Laboratory, and to the heads 
of departments there, I am especially indebted for the con- 
siderable time and trouble they expended in demonstrating 
the research work in progress, and in explaining the general 
objects in view. 

My sincere thanks are also due to the Professors and 
Lecturers at the various Forestry Schools for their kindly 
welcome and valuable help and advice, especially to Professor 
Fernow at Toronto, Professor Roth at Ann Arbor, Professors 
Fisher and Jeffrey of Harvard, and Professor Toumey of Yale. 

I also wish to add my most cordial acknowledgments for 
the open hospitality and personal courtesy which added greatly 
to the pleasure of the tour. 



CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 



